Farah shines in Birmingham Diamond League

Britain's Mo Farah wins the men's 5,000m at Gateshead Stadium in Newcastle on June 22, 2013. Farah proved he was still the man to beat heading into the World Championships with a 5,000 metres win over a high-class field at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting in central England on Sunday.
(AFP/File)

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom (AFP) – Britain's Mo Farah proved he was still the man to beat heading into the World Championships with a 5,000 metres win over a high-class field at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting in central England on Sunday.

Farah, who won gold medals in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at last year's London Olympics, saw off the Ethiopian duo of Yenew Alamirew and Hagos Gebrhiwet -- the world's two fastest men over the shorter distance -- in a last lap sprint that saw him win in a time of 13 minutes 14.71 seconds.

It was an encouraging display by Farah ahead of the World Championships in Moscow in August and afterwards the 30-year-old told the BBC: "The young guys wanted to beat me, I'm the guy to beat.

"I had to dig deep. The pace was slow and the conditions weren't great - it was very windy. Ultimately you've got to get the job done and to win the race.

"(The other runners) were working as a team. But you've got hold your form and make sure you've got something else left.

"It's all about the World Championships. I'm just going to keep training hard," Farah added.